The Kiss
Mario J. Korbel
The Kiss, 1931
Cast bronze
Museum Purchase by exchange of the Gift of Ernest Trova
Korbel often portrayed dancers and used them as models, even briefly marrying one of those dancer/models. Perhaps this influence can be seen in The Kiss, which has a kind of dancerly quality to it in the graceful, almost balletic posture of the figures’ arms, and the lithe bend of the woman’s back. Like a dancer, Korbel makes an awkward pose into something elegant and tender. Think about the ways that the artist visually links the two figures, suggesting their physical and emotional closeness. The figures’ bent knees form a series of interlocking triangular shapes. The man’s arms support the woman’s upraised limbs, and his right arm also seamlessly continues the horizontal line formed by her left humerus. His arched torso echoes the shape of hers.